


Under the Moonlight

by realsweetbiwuws



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Forehead Touching, I'm sorry I love them so much, Star Gazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26613034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realsweetbiwuws/pseuds/realsweetbiwuws
Summary: "It's just, everything we've accomplished so far comes down to tomorrow, I don't know what I'll do if-""Have you ever seen Love Amongst the Dragons?" Zuko asks.Katara looks at him, under the moonlight, she thinks, he is magnificent."No," she replies.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Under the Moonlight

Zuko couldn't sleep. Tomorrow he had to face Azula, worse yet- he had to defeat her. His little sister was only 14, his baby sister who called him Zuzu as a toddler because she couldn't make out the second syllable of his name. Once said in adoration rather than as a means to taunt.

Katara kneels on the sand lightly guiding a string of water back and forth, like she had done only a few months ago, when that was all she had known. She looks back at her friends sleeping soundly in the field, tomorrow she could lose them all. She wouldn't allow it. Turning back, Katara focuses on her string of water and time passes. Eventually someone thumps onto the ground next to her.

"Zuko! Why aren't you sleeping? You'll need your strength for tomorrow."

"Oh, don't you worry about my strength" he laughs at her.

She smiles at him, and under the moonlight, Zuko thinks, she is beautiful.

"I could ask you the same thing," he says, his eyes concerned. 

"It's just, everything we've accomplished so far comes down to tomorrow, I don't know what I'll do if-"

"Have you ever seen Love Amongst the Dragons?" Zuko asks.

Katara looks at him, under the moonlight, she thinks, he is magnificent.

"No," she replies.

Zuko lies back on the sand, hands folded across his middle, and looks up at the stars.

"You said your mother took you to see it?", she slowly returns her string of water back into the shimmering ocean.

"Yes, well, when we were younger. It was her favourite play, even my father came to see it with us".

He continues,

"Hundreds of years ago there was the Dragon Emperor. He had lived for centuries until one day, he met the dark water spirit, who bound him to a mortal form, stripped of his powers, he became Noren."

Katara closed her eyes, and laid back on the sand next to him, listening only to the crash of the waves, and Zuko's voice.

"As a mortal, he was forced to survive with only his bare hands and wit. But not long after his encounter with the dark water spirit, Noren fell in love. He had fallen in love with a mortal, Noriko, and his love had been so strong that he was soon free of the curse placed on him by the spirit."

As she listens to the story, Katara breathes in the sandy air, and opens her eyes. She looks up to the stars, and Zuko continues.

"With his powers returned, Noren set out to defeat the blue spirit, with Noriko at his side."

"Blue spirit? Aang mentioned being rescued by a blue spirit after he had been captured by Zhao," she whispered.

"She was my mother's favourite character in the play," Zuko whispered back softly.

Katara connected the two and smiled to herself. The boy she knew in the catacombs always had good in him, but now she listened as he recited his mother's favourite play.

"Together, Noren and Noriko defeated the dark spirit, after they embrace one another. Noren says to his love:  
"Though I was trapped in the body of a mortal, you willingly gave me your heart! I cannot help but give you mine in return!" 

Noriko looks to her love and replies:  
"Only with your glory hidden in false form could you finally recognise my devotion!" 

"Noriko then revealed herself to be the Dragon Empress, and together they kept the world in balance by warding off any spirits that could threaten their love. They had eternity to be with one another, and Noren's only regret was that he had not confessed his love sooner," Zuko finishes.

Katara turns onto her side, facing Zuko, "That was beautiful, Zuko".

He tries to memorise how his name sounds rolling off her tongue.

"What do you think it means?" she asks.

"I think," he hesitates, "it means that you should live to fight each day as if it were your last, for better or for worse. To live without regret." 

He closes his eyes.

"Well, I think we should honour Noren and Noriko in doing so," she takes his hand in hers and squeezes.

Zuko's heart races, but he turns on his side to face her. With her free hand, Katara raises it to rest on his scarred cheek. He closes his eyes once again, like he had only a few months ago, when all he had known was the waterbender in the catacombs whom he could not forget. 

Zuko looks into her eyes, noting a sincerity he could not help but recognise. He takes a deep breath and whispers, "for better or for worse."

His hand slides up cradle her neck, slowly, he tilts his head down to hers, resting their foreheads together. This time, they both close their eyes. 

"To live without regret," Katara smiles.

Tomorrow is a world away, under the moonlight.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a fic writer but here!! I love them.


End file.
